Hilltop, Albury-Wodonga cancer centre services best in regional Victoria

Patient demand for treatment at an Albury-Wodonga cancer centre is so strong that a major development has had to be fast-tracked by three years.

Fight Cancer Foundation CEO Eric Wright at Hilltop.

A growing demand from cancer sufferers seeking out treatment ‘on par’ with Melbourne, has forced an Albury-Wodonga facility to fast-track its patient accommodation upgrades.

An accommodation hub connected to the Albury Wodonga Regional Cancer Centre — which services a region with the highest cancer survival outcomes in regional Victoria — is set to offer more rooms for patients and their families.

The Hilltop Accommodation Centre had originally intended for its current 20-room facility to be suitable for 10 years — but it has been forced to add an additional 10 rooms, three years earlier than expected.

The Fight Cancer Foundation, which operates Hilltop, said the fast-tracked $3.8m development — which also includes a library and a gym — is due to a rise in people specifically after treatment at the high-level cancer centre.

Sneak peek inside the extension of the Hilltop patient accommodation centre.

“The importance of the Regional Cancer Centre you can’t understate,” Fight Cancer’s chief executive Eric Wright said.

“The feeding towns are from about 200km around Albury-Wodonga and those people coming in from remote towns need a place to stay.

“To stay at a motel it could be $150 a night minimum, whereas people can stay here for $15 per night.”

When the centre officially opened in 2017 it was treating up to 250 patients per day.

Now an additional 100 cancer sufferers are using the centre’s services daily, according to Dr Craig Underhill.

“In the past people needed to travel to the city for some things, and for some surgeries they still do, but now a lot of the other care can happen in Albury,” he said.

“In the past people just said no, it was too hard.

A Sneak peek inside the extension of the Hilltop patient accommodation centre. Picture: Supplied

“If radiotherapy wasn't available and they had a spot in the bone causing pain, and it meant going to the city they’d say it was too hard, and they’d miss out on their treatments.”

Dr Underhill said people were encouraged to attend the centre as the Hume region — which includes Albury-Wodonga — has the highest five-year cancer survival outcomes in regional Victoria, which is better than parts of Melbourne.

“We have the data up until the end of 2019, and we know that back in 2004 the Hume region was much lower than most of the five-year survival outcomes in Melbourne,” he said.

“Over time we’ve seen outcomes improve.

“We’re better than one of the Melbourne regions and are almost on par with the other two.”

Along with the accommodation upgrades at Hilltop, Dr Underhill said the centre’s radiology unit was bringing in a third machine to help meet demand.

“They’ve been doing extended hours to cope with the amount of people needing treatment,” he said.

Hilltop’s new library as part of their extension.

“They originally built three radiotherapy bunkers but were only using two, now they’re bringing in a third machine.

“That’s well ahead of the original schedule of when they thought they’d need the third machine.”

Hilltop is hopeful the 10 new rooms — which would offer up to 3650 more guest nights each year — will be officially open in the coming weeks.

The project has been a partnership between the Fight Cancer Foundation, Rotary Club of Albury North, Lions Club, and Zonta Club of Albury Wodonga.

The Federal Government granted $1.8 million to the project, the Fight Cancer Foundation provided $1 million, and another $1 million needed to be raised by the community.

Mr Wright thanked the community for their help in raising the necessary funds.